Random Stuff from Chez Sluggy

I know how McVal loves to do random posts so I thought I'd do one and offload some of these topics from my brain.  Brain dump time....woohoo! ;-)

* So here is a photo of what it looks like outside as of 9 am here..........

I doubt I'll get out to Rite-Aid today to take advantage of the one-day WW coupons. sigh.  And no, like someone said/offered, they won't let you use them on Thursday, even if they know you/like you and you ask sweetly. lolz

*  Checkout51-I really really detest how they don't removed the offers where all the rebates have all been claimed for that item!  Really??!!??  
I go there and see a big long list of offers and 50% or more are no longer available.  Save me and others a little time having to scroll and read all that crap we can't claim rebates on already!

Plus now many of the offers can't be claimed if you also use a coupon?  WTF?!?

And let's talkeabout how the offers just don't change on there...ever!  I've been looking at the same offers for months now.  And they are forever putting offers up for items they don't sell around here too.  What's the point of showing me those?!  8-O

* A few weeks ago when I went to put Chester out first thing in the morning so he could do his "business" I saw these ice crystals on the wooden deck railing.......

 If you look closely these ice crystals are like shards of glass, sitting up off the wood.

The ones where two were joined together sort of reminded me of tiny ice butterflies.

*  So let's rant about Ibotta too while I'm at it. lolz  Since I don't have a smartphone(I use my Daughter's phone to cash out but I have to use the laptop to load offers onto my account)I can't load and don't get to see but a limited number of offers. argh.

*  My low spend on groceries February is just about circling the toilet and it's only Feb. 7th!  I had a receipt/trip I forgot to put on January's total so I started the month behind the 8 ball.  Then I remembered I had an Ollie's 15% off flyer that expires on the 18th which, although it's 15% off already reduced foods(which is Good!)it will mean more spending in February.
Maybe I do have a spending problem?  Nah, I just have a TIMING problem. lolz

*  I really need to get back to working and posting about genealogy.  My last post on that was months and months ago!  I just looked and it was Nov. 9th.
And I need to work on some trip posts.....I am only up to Part 2 of our August 2016!!! trip to Maine and I posted that one in early Oct!
I have so much to show y'all from our trips and I guess that would be a tad more interesting than financial numbers and random shit like this, huh?  8-)))

*  Oh!, the sister in-law got a JOB!!!!!  She starts later this month.  And the brother in-law she is living with is pushing hard for her to get her own apartment(well, actually he's been pushing her since the second week she was living with him).  The problem is the bus line near his house doesn't run to the hospital where her new job is very often and doesn't go right by it.  And she doesn't have nor can she afford to buy/own a car right now.  And brother in-law doesn't want to be put upon to drive her to work.  So yeah.......  I told Hubs she should look at renting a room if someone near the hospital has one for rent.  It would be easier, closer and cheaper than having to get an apartment(especially since she has ZERO money now).  There is talk about she is getting some money back from the mortgage company she gave back her house to at some point in the future.  I have visions of once she gets that money that brother in-law is going to talk her into buying a car(which she can't afford)with it all.  She has had two cars repo'ed already(and one was an old POS car, not new).  What's the odds that she'll take a little of that money when she gets it and pays us back for the $$ we laid out to move her and her shit?  Yah, I don't think doing that will even cross her mind.  8-(
And now Hubs, after swearing to me that he was done financially bailing out his siblings, is now talking about giving her some money for a security deposit and last month's rent for an apartment!!!!! Can you tell I am NOT pleased?!?! I freaking kill him right now if it wouldn't impact the annuity payment. lololz
So the sister in-law saga continues.....

*  In lieu of Rite-Aid pillaging and showing y'all Rite-Aid Porn I guess I'll go work on Giveaways today.
Last month when I was up going through old files and purging them in the spare/office/hubs man-cave room I also did some organizing of my toiletries stockpile tubs in that room.

The last few months of 2017 I had just been throwing bags(mostly from Rite-Aid)onto the tubs and things were not being integrated into the proper tubs and items rotated by dates.
So I spent a few hours and went through EVERY TUB and reorganized.  And I pulled out an entire tub+ of items for Giveaways.  Last Saturday my supply of mailing boxes arrived from the USPS so I am all set to put together more boxes of goodies to giveaway....yippee!!!

Here's what I have to go through now and make up boxes.........

An 18 gallon Rubbermaid tub of all sorts of goodies.

Plus a grocery bag of more stuff!

And that doesn't even count the two Rite-Aid bags of candy I have. lolz

So I am off to sort goodies and get a year's worth(I hope!) of giveaway boxes ready.

What are you up to today??

Sluggy

WTF Tuesday

I went to the doctor yesterday and it seems I won't be keeling over dead anytime soon.
Yah me!
I'll be around to vex everyone for a good long time.  Though I am still short of breath.
I knew you were all worried...... ;-)

I am feeling all out of sorts this summer.
Not just in a physical way but in a cosmic, not-right-with-the-universe way.

Last summer I had lots to keep me busy......the July Stockpile Sale.......the August Stockpile Sale......a nice garden to tend......having Kid #2 graduate from high school and then packing off Kid #2 to college for the 1st time.....getting ready to hold a big Toy Sale(that didn't happen in the end, but I spent time working on it anyway).

This Summer?
No Stockpile Sales.
Kid #2 is back home and won't be living at school in the Fall.
The garden is dinky this year and due to the drought, not much action there.

I don't know.
I am just not feeling much of anything to blog about this Summer.
Ok, so I do blog but obviously calling my online friends "assholes" and posting long reads about the Civil War Draft Riots of 1863 aren't very popular.

Perhaps I should go back to talking about hoarding...or better yet cat hoarding!
Yes, since I started checking on my blog "keyword" searches, cat hoarding has been a phrase that has led many MANY people to my blog's front door.
I don't even like cats.....

So to keep things light and frothy today, I am going to show you some photos.

First off, I finally got around to making PICKLES!!!

Of course, everyone wanted me to make them but when I finally did, no one is eating them now but me!
But that's ok since I "heart" these pickles....nom nom nom.....

And here is the comedy duo I spend most days with....

Cherry the beagle and Penny the chihuahua.....the Abbott and Costello of the dog world!

Cherry loves to spend her days laying on her back.
Besides just hanging around upside down, the 2 dogs have a "Who's on First!?" routine worked out that they perform every day, usually beginning at 2:30pm....sometimes they start earlier than that, because they don't synchronize their watches evidently.

The "show" goes like this.....
Cherry will roll onto her back, usually this happens in the middle of the den or kitchen floor.  If Penny is not present, Cherry will whine and make quiet "ruffing" noises to get her attention.  Penny is mostly deaf though, but Penny has ADHD and walks around all. day. long., so she will "find" Cherry in "position" within minutes.

Once Penny is on "stage" with Cherry the show begins.
Cherry begins her "dance".  She slowly twist and turns on her back and moans.  Not an "I'm in pain moan".....Imagine a human porn film but with a dog playing the part.  Yah, it's kinda like that.
I know, that sounds weird but it's the only thing that is close to what it sounds like.

Penny stands over Cherry, constantly moving though, like a slow motion dance, and starts barking.
It's that high pitched "nail through your skull" bark that Chihuahuas do.
And they dance, moan and bark.....and bark.....and bark......
They would do this for hours I think, if I didn't take a yardstick to them, and make them stop after 20 minutes or until my head and nerves explode.

They stop but as soon as I leave the room or go back to trying to ignore them, they go right back to performing.....writhing on the floor, moaning, the tip tip of chihuahua toenails prancing in place and then the yipping that makes the paint want to peel right off the walls.

And this goes on right up until 4pm, which is their dinner time, or I break down sooner and feed them.
It's a wonder I have a sane thought left in my head some days!

And here is a photo an old friend sent me recently.  He actually sent this photo to me a few years ago but my computer crashed and I hadn't saved this photo elsewhere.  He recently sent it again.
This friend and I met the Summer of 1975.
I'll not share anything else about him, except to say that he once dressed up as Marilyn Monroe for a Halloween party and you'd have been hard pressed to tell him apart from the real Marilyn.....of course if she wasn't dead and all.
But I digress....

We were both interns in a Summer Theater Workshop at a local Dinner Theater.
I had joined this program because a friend of mine, whom I had attended 8th grade with had.
We remained friends even though I attending the Parochial high school and she went to her local public one. 

Anyway, I kept in touch with this other friend I met at the theater(though he also went to a different high school from me).  We've reconnected off an on over the years since then. 
I went to his house for a visit the following Fall.
This was Oct. of 1976.
I was a Senior in high school.
Please forgive the Catholic school uniform plaid pleated skirt.
This is Sluggy in all her glory at 17.
Fashion victim of the '70's.

So how is YOUR summer going?
Is it me or are the planets spinning out of orbit this year?




Sluggy-who if given the chance for a teenage redo, would have done so many things differently!

Brain Dump....Random Things on My Mind

Ok, if MARK can do a Photo Dump on his blog, I am allowed to do a Brain Dump on my blog.
Yes, I said Brain Dump....deal with it!
You know....just putting all the random crap that bounces around in your head out on cyber-paper so you can stop thinking about it.

*I woke up this morning and my teeth all seem loose.  I don't know WHAT I was doing in my sleep(grinding, clenching?)but they seriously hurt!  I take pretty good care of my teeth and have regular check-ups.  Heck, last time the dentist couldn't find a speck of tartar on my chopper and I have no gum disease.  But today they hurt like a bitch and I am waiting for the Tooth Fairy to be making an appearance.

*You know what irritates me?.....Ok, that's a very long list....but something recently.
Mormon mommy bloggers.
Let me say first off, I have nothing against Mormons....unless they are on my front doorstep trying to give me literature.  (But then again, I don't want ANY devoteé on my front doorstep selling me religion.)
I believe everyone can/should believe what they want.  But please, keep it sacred and to yourself, much like your genitals.  Don't be whipping those or your religion out in public to beat anyone over the head with it to prove that yours is better than mine.  Ok, bad metaphor but you know what I mean.

Mormon mommy bloggers are fascinating.  So domestic and so uplifting and perky all the time most of the time on their blogs.  You can't tell me that even the most patient Mormon mommy blogger doesn't have moments when their brood drives them stark raving mad and they don't want to throttle their kids....C'mon!
And this NieNie person?  I want to know what her husband does for a living to afford all the money they seem to be dropping on airplane tickets, trips, stuff, etc.  And he must have one heck of a flexible schedule to be jetting off everywhere at a moment's notice.  And she needs to lay off the proselytizing and Mitt Romney links because she is driving folks away with that. My advice?....Stick to photos of your kids and telling your survivor story cuz those rock!

*And since we are on the subject of Mormons, it's but a short step to my next BD topic.....those Sister Wives folks on the TLC channel.
I confess, I have watched that show from the beginning.  I really like some of them though I do think that Cody guy is full of himself and tad bit narcissistic.
I woke up earlier this week as I was coming out of a vivid dream.  The dream was about the Sister Wives.  In the dream I was worrying about the IRS implications of the Sister Wives family.  I know.....I have too much time on my hands even when I am asleep.
But you have to admit, that come tax time, being part of a polygamist family has to be a nightmare!
Wife #1 is legally married by government standards and they have 1 kid & 2 incomes.  So they take a tax hit.
Wife #2 also works and has 6 kids.  Not legally married, does she file as Head of Household or Single?
And she makes out with 6 tax deductions.
Wife #3 is the problem for me.  She also has 6 kids but doesn't work so has no income to claim.  What must the IRS drone who gets her return think?  7 deductions and no visible means of support.....
Wife #4 has 3 kids from a previous marriage....who takes the deduction for the kids?  She must get some form of child support.

*I have had my eBay Store reopened for almost 2 weeks now and I am already having problems with stupid people. 
I had someone send me a Question to Seller asking the specific size of a miniature doll, as well as asking me to take the doll out of the sealed package and to email them more close-up pictures of the doll.  First off, if they had actually READ the listing it says that the doll is 1" tall.  There are 3 close-up pictures of the item where you can see that the said doll is visible.  And if I opened the sealed package it would no longer be New in Package as the listing states.  They also did NOT give me their email addy so I could email them the photos that they can already see in the listing.

I have had someone forget to pay me for 1 week though this was not a deadbeat but an eBay regular who just lost track of their dealings.  I quick nudge rectified the situation.

The worst has to be the people who don't know how to negotiate.  On occasion I put the "Make Me An Offer" feature on listings.  If you are unfamiliar with that, it allows potential Buyers to offer you less than what you have listed the item for.  You can then accept, decline or counteroffer them.  I believe they have 3 bids or chances to make an offer on any item before the system automatically rejects their dealings with the Seller.   When you make an offer to a Seller it is a good thing not to piss them off by offering them some outlandishly low sum.  And if you are in a counteroffering/bidding situation with a Seller, you need to man up and meet them halfway...or at least that is my take on things.  I had someone this week offer me $15 on an item I listed for $30.  While not outlandishly low, it was pretty insulting.  And seeing as I had just listing the item 1 day before, I was not about to sell it for that little.
So I made them a counteroffer by knocking $5 off the item, making it $25.
And guess what price they came back with?   $15.50.
I come down $5 and they come up .50¢.
As Suze Orman would say.....Denied!
So I send back a new counteroffer......$30. LOLOL

*And now I know I will piss off many of you with this one......
What is this fascination with the Pioneer Woman?
I just don't get it.
Ok, she cooks.  She takes photos of cattle and cowboys' rear ends.  She's written a book.
Can somebody please explain to me why I should care?lol  I've seen her recipes.  Not impressed.
And no, this does not come from some kind of jealousy or blog envy.   What she has works for her but it's not what I want.
I just don't get whatever it is everyone else sees.  If you put shots like the one above on her blog I might be easier to convince that I need to read her. ;-)

I see it as something similar to all this Oprah worship women do.  We get fixated on people and then can't get enough of them.  I think I am missing some female gene thing.

Whatever......
Ok, I guess my brain is empty enough now for some new thoughts.

So tell us.....What is on your mind?

Sluggy